5.  The applicant was born in 1937 and lives in Chişinău.
6.  The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.
7.  The applicant was a victim of a work accident in 1984. He was rendered 100% unfit to work and was found to be in the first degree invalidity category. The employer, The National Institute of Vineyards and Wine (“the NIVW”), was obliged by law to pay him monthly invalidity benefit. After the introduction of the new national currency the amount of benefit was set at approximately 18 euros (EUR) per month and had risen to approximately EUR 50 per month by 2003. He also receives a small State pension.
8.  From 1996 the NIVW stopped paying the compensation and the applicant accumulated a significant debt to public utility companies. He initiated court proceedings to oblige the employer to resume payment of the benefit and to recover benefit for the entire period due. According to the Government, the employer did not have sufficient information about the applicant during the period 1996-2001 and this was the reason for discontinuing the payments. The applicant submitted a copy of his complaint to NIVW regarding the discontinuation of the payments dated January 1998 and the NIVW's two letters in response, according to the last of which (March 1998) the payment of the benefit had been suspended because of lack of funds. The applicant also complained to various authorities in 2000 about the NIVW's failure to pay. In a letter dated 2 August 2000 the deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Processing assured the applicant that his benefit would soon be paid.
9.  On 11 April 2001 the Ciocana District Court accepted the applicant's claims and awarded him 23,921 Moldovan lei (MDL) (the equivalent of EUR 2,076 at the time) in respect of compensation due to him to that date. It ordered the NIVW to pay the court fees. No appeal was lodged and the judgment became final and enforceable 15 days later. The court then issued a warrant for the enforcement of the judgment.
10.  On 20 February 2002 the NIVW was declared insolvent and an Administrator was appointed for the period of its liquidation. The applicant submitted that the organisation was, in fact, in the process of restructuring and was not liquidated, as evidenced by official documents signed by the NIVW's administrator. He also claimed that the NIVW had continued to pay staff salaries and had even purchased new equipment. He referred to a decision of the Court of Audit (no. 2, 2001), according to which the NIVW had been given a credit in the amount of 2,890,000 United States dollars (USD) by the Ministry of Finance from its own loan from the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development and that this money had been used to purchase wine production equipment. By July 2000 the NIVW had obtained revenue from this new equipment amounting to approximately EUR 14,500. The applicant also referred to another decision of the same court (no. 20, 2004) according to which in 2003 the NIVW had received from the State budget MDL 785,000 to finance research and specialised education.
11.  From June 2002 until October 2002 the NIVW paid the applicant a total of MDL 8,000.
12.  On 30 October 2002 the applicant initiated new court proceedings requesting the recalculation of the compensation due (because inflation had decreased the value of the earlier award) and also payment of an additional MDL 49,178 (EUR 3,630 at the time) in damages for the late and partial payment of the previous award (in 2001). He also claimed payment of the compensation arrears which had accumulated since that previous judgment.
13.  On 13 November 2002 the NIVW paid him the balance of the 2001 award (MDL 15,900). In a letter dated 14 April 2003 it recognised a part of the applicant's new claims for invalidity benefit for 2002 and stated that the calculation for 2003 would be carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Labour.
14.  On 26 June 2003 the Centru District Court accepted the applicant's new claims in part and awarded him MDL 7,729 (EUR 478 at the time) for the period 11 April 2001 until 1 June 2003, during which he had been paid only a part of his monthly benefit. The court rejected his claim for compensation for damage caused by delayed enforcement and by inflation during the relevant period.
15.  Having exempted the applicant from payment of the court fees when initiating this second action, the court ordered that the fees be paid by the unsuccessful party, namely the NIVW.
16.  On 10 November 2003 the Economic Court of Appeal issued a certificate confirming that the NIVW was in the process of reorganisation. On 11 November 2003 the Court of Appeal rejected an appeal lodged by the applicant against the judgment of 26 June 2003.
17.  He then appealed twice to the Supreme Court of Justice. By letters of 27 November 2003 and 23 April 2004 the court informed the applicant that his appeal had not been examined because he had failed to pay the court fees (approximately EUR 50). His request for an exemption was rejected, the only reason given being that the relevant legal provisions (Articles 85(4) and 86 of the Code of Civil Procedure, see paragraph 21 below) did not apply.
18.  In view of the Supreme Court of Justice's refusal to examine his appeal, the judgment of 11 November 2003 became final.
19.  According to a letter from the NIVW director submitted to the Court by the Government, by Government Decision no. 159 of 20 January 2004 the NIVW was split into two separate State companies and received approximately 20% of its funds from the State budget.